


Time Will Tell

by ceilingfan5



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Kissing, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, actually acknowledging the reality and pressure of a soulmate universe, continued from tumblr, in case this looks familiar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:00:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25343596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceilingfan5/pseuds/ceilingfan5
Summary: Taako, like most people, was born with a birthmark that was supposed to show the first place his soulmate would touch him, but there must be some mistake. Sure, the psychedelic colors are spreading, still swirling magically under his skin in a near-perfect hand print shape, just like in the movies, but Taako hasn’t met his soulmate yet. What’s worse? The only person who touched him today was his mortal enemy, That Guy From Music Theory That Never Shuts Up.
Relationships: Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 219





	Time Will Tell

**Author's Note:**

> this is continued from a prompt on tumblr from corbie-quaesitum! (based on the original soulmate touch mark concept by fandangoing) if you want to see or encourage more of my work, follow me there at ceilingfan5 and feel free to send in requests!

“Fuck. Fuck- fuck, fuck, fuck this shit. Fuck-” Taako can’t breathe. He’s holed up in the university bathroom with his shirt half off, looking at the absolute very end of the world. Taako, like most people, was born with a birthmark that was supposed to show the first place his soulmate would touch him, but there must be some mistake. Sure, the psychedelic colors are spreading, still swirling magically under his skin in a near-perfect hand print shape, just like in the movies, but Taako hasn’t met his soulmate yet. What’s worse? The only person who touched him today was his mortal enemy, That Guy From Music Theory That Never Shuts Up. 

Oh no. This absolutely won’t do. 

His slouchy top barely covers it, either. He tries hiding it with the concealer he has in his bag, but just like in all those rumors from middle school, nothing works. True love shines through. But it can’t be true love! Taako remembers the absolute contempt he felt when K...Krabbins. Kravix? When that jackass squeezed his shoulder after their group presentation where Taako let him do all the work. It was absolutely an I’m-going-to-throw-you-under-the-bus-for-this-one-shitbag sort of squeeze, something Taako’s not unfamiliar with, and Taako had given him his winningest smile and pulled that offending hand right off of him. There was no love lost there. So has Cupid lost his goddamn mind, or is...is That Guy Taako’s soulmate?

Taako’s gut plummets faster than a lead fart. He’s got to find this guy and prove he isn’t actually his soulmate. And then he can go back to living his fun and sexy and free lifestyle. 

That Guy is easier to find than Taako expected. He’s just sitting around in the common area, studying a thick textbook with a glossy piano on the cover. Taako didn’t even buy any textbooks this year. Obviously they aren’t a match. It’s clear as swarovski crystal, baby. 

Taako walks right up, sweating to death in his sweater but absolutely not about to let the public see his divine embarrassment, and he slams his hand down on That Guy’s table. He’s going to go full intimidation with this one. He gives That Guy a narrow look when he jumps and pitches his voice down a little to sound more serious. 

“We have to go on a date.”

The Guy stares back at him--funny, his hand is wrapped up. Maybe he punched somebody for talking shit about a dead-ass, wig-wearing, piano-fucking composer. It takes him a second to find his voice, but when he does, it’s that affected accent Taako hates so much. 

“I’ll be honest, Taako, that’s...not exactly what I thought you were going to say.”

“Is that a no?” Taako squints at him.

“More of a...why, I’d wager?” The Guy- Kravitz. Kravitz is it, according to the fancy, swirling letters in silver sharpie on his fancy notebook. Taako knew that. 

“Does it matter? You, me, mmm...Italian food. The Phoenix. 7pm.”

“Today??” Kravitz splutters. Taako allows him no mercy. Serves him right. Especially as sweaty and nervous as he looks with Taako so close to him. Eugh. 

“Did I stutter? Now’s your chance to opt out. Three. Two.”

“I- I guess- sure. Why not.”

“Perfect.”

Taako wears a turtleneck and a short skirt, the full, easy-to-move-in kind in case he has to run away or climb out a bathroom window. In case, you know, the guy is a full-on creep and not just the kind of person who likes to lecture the teacher on why the textbook has inaccuracies that poison the study of music and ruin the experience for entry-level musicians like his compatriots. 

God. 

He shows up fashionably late to find, to his surprise, that not only has Kravitz already gotten them a table, he’s dressed up, and...unfortunately, he cleans up tasty. Maybe he’d be super fucking gorgeous hot, you know, if he could keep his mouth shut. 

Taako takes his seat and more than his fair share of breadsticks, ready for the guy to bitch and moan about it, but he just raises an eyebrow. 

“So,” Taako says, cracking open a cold ice breaker. “You got any hobbies, or are you just into music?”

“I do really enjoy music, and I spend a lot of my time practicing, but I also like playing games...like poker. Not just- any games? I also spend some time at the gym, and...I’m sorry, the way you keep looking at me. Is this an interview? I feel like I missed something.”

“Maybe so,” Taako says vaguely. They order, and Taako’s slightly surprised to find that Kravitz has good taste. Hm. Interesting. 

They trade tales from other classes and parties they’ve been to, and against his will, Taako starts...enjoying the date. He finally has to steer the subject back to why he hates the guy so much. To remember the whole point of this stealth operation. 

“So, why the fuck do you take music class so seriously?”

“Why?” Kravitz thinks for a moment, itching at the bandages on his hand. Maybe it was a burn. Maybe he’s a shit terrible cook, which is another great reason to hate him. Although that hasn’t been a dealbreaker in the past. Shit cooks are always impressed when you’re a great cook, and Taako loves being the center of attention. 

“I’ll tell it to you straight, Taako. And I don’t think you understand. I’m not trying to be an uppity, full of myself know-it-all. I’m a music major. I play fifteen instruments. I-” his accent slips in his frustration, and oh, his real voice? Honey butter. Taako may or may not be blushing. “I’m going to be a conductor. It’s an embarrassment for that class-- for basic, entry-level fucking music appreciation to be one of my requirements. Taako, I could teach that class, do you understand?”

Taako understands that he likes the way his name sounds in that low voice of his. Fuck. 

“Okay, yeah, maybe that would make me an asshole too.” Taako hesitates, and bites his lip, and then the bullet. “What happened to your hand? It was fine this morning.”

“My hand?” Kravitz clutches it. “Nothing.” 

“Liar.” And then Taako knows. He knows for sure, like the gods themselves trumpteted it right in his goddamn ear. “Your soulmate mark showed up. Didn’t it.” 

Kravitz stares at him. His expression is impenetrable. His brown eyes are deep, and unfortunately sexy.

“And why would that be?”

So this guy likes poker. Taako takes a gamble. 

“Mine did too.” And he yanks his turtleneck to the side to reveal his mark, practically glowing in its resplendency. It almost seems like a shame to cover it. 

Kravitz frowns. He sucks in his cheeks. And he pokes at his ravioli with his fork. And he unwraps his hand. Glorious, swirling colors, even more passionate than Taako’s, are revealed. Taako swallows. 

“So what does this mean?” Kravitz asks. His tone is intentionally level. Taako gets the impression that it’s taking a lot of energy to keep it that way.

“I don’t know,” Taako admits. “I guess...I guess we could go on another date? Maybe even...see where the night takes us?” 

Kravitz hesitates, but he nods. 

“I think that’s worth a shot.” 

Kravitz wraps his hand back up, glancing around at the other patrons of the Phoenix like, at any moment, they might burst into song, or maybe just into flames. Taako takes the cue to stop stretching out his hot turtleneck and pats it back into place. Nobody has to know what they are. Nobody but them. 

They trade a long, quiet look, which is interrupted by the hapless waitress offering to refill their drinks. Taako gets another freckled lemonade and more breadsticks, despite nearly being full enough to pop. Kravitz declines another Diet Coke. In a moment, they are alone again, the weight of the realities of the world on their shoulders. 

“Do you know a lot about soulmates?” Kravitz shatters the quiet. Taako evaluates him skeptically. 

“I’ve seen some movies, heard the rumors. You know.”

“Do you know anyone who’s met their soulmate?”

“Oh, yeah.” Taako shrugs. He knows it's his imagination, but his shoulder feels warm. “My sister and her boyfriend. They took forever to figure it out, though. They shook hands at a conference.” 

“Oh no.” 

“Yeah, it was a whole mess, but they’re gaga for each other. I mean, make up any verb and that’s them. Completely sproingled. Absolutely chuffed in the bongos.” 

Kravitz laughs, seemingly despite himself. 

“My moms are soulmates.”

“Yeah?” Taako smiles a little. “That’s cute. I wouldn’t know what that was like.”

“No?” Kravitz frowns. 

Taako doesn’t care to elaborate. His lemonade and breadsticks show up, and he’s not immediately compelled to shove them in his bag and clamber out the bathroom window. Maybe this date isn’t so bad. Also, the lemonade would ruin the interior. 

“I think we should try kissing,” Taako announces, not realizing at first that that’s the first thing he said since he hinted at not really having a family and failed to say more. Kravitz’s baffled expression takes a second to process, and a minute to savor. “Gotta keep up, dog,” he says, grinning with at least a little spite. 

“You think so?” Kravitz finally says, after swallowing his drink hard. Taako wishes a little bit that he had just spit it out. It would have been way funnier. “And why’s that?”

“Well, a soulmate kiss is supposed to feel like fireworks, right?”

“It’s going to taste like garlic.”

“Yeah, but like, mutually, so what? Is that the only complaint you’ve got, mister complainer? Or have you got another good reason not to kiss a hot guy for free?”

“You don’t actually like me very much?” Kravitz drums a little beat on the table, having trouble making eye contact. 

“And?” Taako leans in a little closer. “I’m on the fence on that one. Do you hate me as much as I hate you?”

“I do wish you had done any work on our project, like at all? That would have been...cool?” 

“Pshaw,” Taako enunciates, waving his hand. “You wanted to do the whole thing your way anyway. You didn’t like my idea at all.”

“Appreciating the Wu-Tang Clan’s new album did not exactly fit the specs of the assignment, Taako, not to mention what you sent me was not even the Wu-Tang Clan.”

Taako slams his hands on the table.

“Would you or would you not have redone all of my parts, had I done them in the first place?”

Kravitz’s mouth goes fully sideways. 

“I would have,” he admits. “But you could have showed some effort.”

“To what END?” Taako chews on his lemonade straw. “What’s the point of effort if it gets you nowhere? If I’m going nowhere, I’d at least prefer not to have tired legs.” He flops backward against the booth. Kravitz chuckles quietly. 

“I suppose you’re not wrong. I guess you gauged that situation better than I did.”

“Of course I did, but thank you for appreciating my genius. Now. Avoidance begone. Kiss me.”

“What, in public?? Over the table??” 

“Would you rather do it in the john? Let’s step around the corner and mack next to the urinals. Is that your thing? Is this place fancy enough to have a bathroom attendant? Maybe we can slip ‘em a tenspot to look the other way. Or look at us, if that’s your thing-”

Kravitz huffs, and leans over the table, and kisses Taako right on the garlicky lips. 

It’s not like fireworks. It’s like kissing. But it’s incredible. Taako’s never considered himself a romantic, but he would set sail on a swan boat in an instant if he got to keep doing this. He leans over the table too, kissing back with gusto--to the point of grabbing Kravitz by the lapels and slipping him a bit of tongue. Fireworks couldn’t hold a Roman candle to this. This...guy he barely knows. This guy he’s supposed to spend his whole life with. Maybe Taako could make that work. He sits back finally, separating them, and looks at Kravitz. Kravitz looks like his whole world’s been shaken like a bag of Chex mix and all the good bits sifted to the top, or maybe like his vibrator turned on in his luggage halfway through security, or maybe like Taako stole his breath away and told him he had to make a face like a dumb fish to get it back. 

It’s pretty satisfying. 

“Not bad,” Taako says, his own breath a little short. “For a nerd.” 

“Not bad for a lazy jackass who thinks he’s smarter than everyone else,” Kravitz bites back. Taako laughs. 

“I don’t _think_ I’m better than everyone else. I have lots of proof. But nice comeback. It was almost cute. Are you going to get the tab?”

“I guess I always was,” Kravitz says, a little stunned and a little bitter and still quite dazed about the whole kissing experiment. 

“Good. We’ll get our leftovers boxed up and go...mmm...how does back to my place sound?”

Kravitz drives them (in his car, which he can drive, which very much adds a few points in his favor) back to Taako’s apartment. A lot more kissing happens, vastly improved after both of them have had a mint. But good things rarely last, and Kravitz interrupts them with a real thinker. 

“Taako...What do you expect out of a soulmate?” 

Taako sits back on his couch and huffs, a little mad he’s not still getting lipgloss all over Kravitz’s face like a teen at sleepaway camp. 

“I don’t know, I haven’t thought about it all that much.”

“I thought everybody thought about it,” Kravitz says. Taako folds his arms. “I mean...I spent a lot of time thinking about it as a kid, and growing up...”

“Yeah?” Taako’s not really interested in a philosophical discussion, especially when they could still be reinventing pyrotechnics with their faces. 

“The soulmate system is a lot to think about, isn’t it? I mean, I had to come to terms with the fact that I was going to love another person and they were going to love me, and that- well, as I got older, I realized that person was going to be a man- and- dating is so much, because what’s the point, if you’re not going to end up with them forever? When someone out there means so much to future-you, why spend your time preventing it? And-”

“Because it’s _fun_ , my dude? Kissing is fun. Sex is fun. Having someone with no strings attached to watch movies with is fun. Not everything has to be permanent to be...like...to be worth enjoying. Not to mention I dunno how you’d find your person if you don’t put yourself out there.”

Kravitz regards him contemplatively. Taako shrugs and continues. 

“I never bought into it that much. In fact, I kinda convinced myself it was never going to activate, and it would stay dark forever?” He shrugs again. He doesn’t like that sad look in Kravitz’s eyes, and it gets worse when he doesn’t shut his mouth. “I mean, for a while there, I thought no one would want me, so like, I figured I was one of those guys with a dud mark.”

“Oh, Taako...” Kravitz suddenly looks so soft and sad, and Taako hates it. He hates how vulnerable Kravitz thinks he was when he was just laying out the facts. 

“It’s kind of a fucked up thing to deal with, yeah?”

Kravitz nods. “I spent so much time being so afraid it wouldn’t activate, or that my soulmate would be on the other side of the planet, or, or- or I would meet him, and he would die, or I would die, or- Or I’d fuck it up-” 

“But you didn’t.” Taako’s kind of done with this whole conversation. He doesn’t like thinking about this stuff and talking about it is worse. “We met, and things are fine.”

“Are they fine? We barely like each other. We barely _know_ each other. How are we supposed to turn this into a real relationship?”

“I have a few ideas.”

“Taako, we can’t just kiss our way into a soulbinding.”

“Not with that attitude. Maybe we just haven’t kissed enough yet.” 

Kravitz sighs. 

“I’ll be honest. I really do like kissing you, but-”

“Good, you’re smarter than you look.”

“BUT I think we should focus on building...something. I can’t just let this be a fling that you abandon. This is real- it’s serious- it’s our whole lives. It’s our one chance.”

Taako bites his lip. This is all the shit he hates about that soulmate stuff. It was so easy to pretend it would never affect him. Is this how all relationships go, just throwing all their cards into making this strange thing work based on almost nothing?? How have so many people just...let that happen? How do people not just fuck up relationships all the time and die alone, like Taako always figured he would? It’s a lot to process, and it’s the kind of thing big romantic movies always avoid. You aren’t supposed to think deeper about it. It’s just supposed to be cute. But these are people’s lives, completely changed because of these marks from the gods. How could divine beings just play with them like this?

“Yeah, I’ll, uh, I’ll give it a shot.” The only thing worse than ending up with Kravitz would be ending up alone. Right? 

They exchange numbers. Kravitz doesn’t stay the night. And they start building...something. They text each other--it’s shy at first, but Taako is no stranger to doubletexting (or triple, or fifteen,) and they send each other jokes and pictures and talk shit about other people on campus. Taako starts paying attention in Music Appreciation, partially because finals are coming up and his grades aren’t exactly satisfactory, and partially because Kravitz is just so into it. Hearing it from his side, it’s kind of hard not to get excited about something someone is so passionate about. They study together. It doesn’t suck. 

Kravitz turns out to be one of the worst cooks Taako has ever met, which makes it even more satisfying to cook for him. Even the little things impress him, like making pasta from scratch, and making soup in a crockpot. It’s funny and even sort of cute, but Taako also starts teaching him the basics, because he can’t just let a guy live like that, blackening his grilled cheese and fearing three-quarters of his burners. At one point, Taako goes on a long rant about caramelizing onions and sees in real time Kravitz realizing that he’s not just full of hot air, he knows things and he cares. He doesn’t say much about it, but Taako notices him noticing. 

Maybe the most world-shaking thing is...they start hanging out. Taako was pretty tight with his two boys, and who knows what Kravitz had going on before, but they start spending time together. Not necessarily on dates. Just...watching movies, and making soup, and enjoying discount charcuterie and cheap wine, and driving places, that sort of thing. It’s weird. It’s _good_. They avoid talking too much about the marks, or soulmates, and they just become...friends. It’s easier that way, without a lot of thought about it. The stakes are lower. They both sort of quietly decided that they needed to know the other guy first. 

But they don’t exactly stop kissing, either. It’s nice, to go to each other’s places and watch shows, or play games (both of them are horrible cheats in very different ways, which in turn means they’re surprisingly matched), or even go on picnics and cutesy shit like that. But it’s also very nice to turn the TV off, or throw down the cards, or ignore their lunch and wrap their arms around each other and just enjoy each other, as if there were no strings attached. It’s easier to handle when they think of it as dating, rather than being together forever. The idea of being soulmates is a lot of pressure. 

They don’t realize how close they’ve gotten until Winter Break. The semester is over, and they have family to visit, and candles to light, and gifts to give, and traditions to follow, and suddenly they haven’t seen each other in what feels like forever. 

“Can’t believe I’m saying this, but I miss you,” Taako says over the phone, in that strange sort of twilight zone between Candlenights and New Years. Kravitz is visiting his moms and Taako is visiting his sister and her soulmate, and both of them are remembering first hand just how seriously some people take being soulmates. They sort of dance around the topic, but it hangs in the air like glitter, or a thousand dry-aging hams. 

“I miss you too, Taako.” Kravitz’s smile is audible over the phone, and Taako’s chest aches. It’s weird. He’s not supposed to be the clingy type, but right now, he’s hurtin’ for some huggin’. “Did you sign up for classes?”

“Yeah.” There’s a pause, and both of them know it’s coming, which makes it worse. “No more music. Got that, uh, got that requirement squared away.” 

“So I guess I won’t see you in class anymore.” Is that a hint of sadness? Taako hopes so. 

“We can still see each other and hang out and stuff.”

“It was nice having an excuse, though.”

“I mean, we do sort of have, you know, that other excuse,” Taako wagers. They’ve barely talked about it. It’s been easier not to. They haven’t put a name to what they are, or what they’re doing. So far, it’s just been “hanging out” and “getting to know each other”. But now they’re calling each other and aching to hold each other… “Just seems like, you know, maybe...”

“Maybe…?”

“Well, maybe...I mean...we could be...you know, a thing.” 

“A thing?” Kravitz laughs softly. 

“I mean, not like, soulbound, not yet, but like- I dunno, at least-”

“Boyfriends?” 

“Yeah.” Taako’s shoulders relax a little, now that it’s been said out loud. “Do...do you want to be? I mean, I know I’m still pretty insufferable, but-”

“Taako, I would love to be your boyfriend.” 

“Cool,” Taako says, for lack of anything easier to say. 

“Cool?” Kravitz echoes, in disbelief. 

“Cool!” Taako nearly hangs up on him. “I mean- yeah- I- I wanna be- I wanna be your boyfriend too.”

“Cool,” says Kravitz, only mocking a little, and Taako does hang up on him. 

When they see each other again, Taako wears an asymmetrical sweater that shows his mark in its full glory, the colors swirling passionately near his collarbones. Kravitz hasn’t really had the privilege of hiding his hand since this all began, but he sees Taako’s declaration to the world and he smiles. And they kiss. And they hold one another. 

“Maybe it’s not, you know, the end of the world,” Taako says, and they both know what he means. 

“Maybe not,” Kravitz says. “I suppose we could find out, together.”

“It’s worth a shot.” And Taako kisses him, for all the times he missed over break and then some. Kravitz is more than happy to oblige. And now, when he puts his hand on Taako’s shoulder, it feels right. The colors almost seem to sync in their swirls, and the more they look in each other’s eyes and feel the warmth of a sun brighter than the one they’ve always known, the more passionately the colors dance in their marks. They may not have called it by name, yet, but destiny knows their faces, and it will wait patiently for them to be ready. Love comes in many shapes and sizes, and it often changes over time, but it is real, and it is powerful, and it is waiting for those who want it.

**Author's Note:**

> neither soulmate aus or enemies to lovers are my usual fare so i hope you enjoyed this! i have a lot of thoughts and feelings about the realities of both of those tropes, but it was fun to do something a little different for once! if you enjoyed this, please, please leave a comment! i eat them for power and convert them into more fics. win-win for you. 
> 
> if you want more of this kind of content, follow me on twitter @ceilingfan_5 or tumblr @ceilingfan5. thank you!!


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